Dr. Nikki Martinez received her Masters and her Doctorate from Illinois School of Professional Psychology, and completed her pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellowship at Gateway Foundation in Lake Villa, Illinois. Head of Clinical Development for www.drnikkimartinez.com/. She is an Adjunct Professor for 2 graduate programs, a Blogger for the Huffington Post, Older Dating, Success Stories, and a Contributor to the Chicago Tribune.

Many of you have heard the quote, “People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.” I have always loved this quote, as it highlights the concept that even the most short lived encoun…

During my many years of working with couples, and writing about them each week for major media outlets, I have been able to comfortably come up with a list of things we should and should not be doing …

Many people share a fear of public speaking. The reasons for it are many. The individual may not feel prepared. I often hear that they do not feel capable and knowledgeable enough in the subject that …

What holds us back from expressing the gifts we have developed or been given. Why are there some people who will shout them from the rooftops, while others will not tell anyone about their accomplishm…

We all know people who seem to lie no matter what the case. The person who embellishes the story. The person who drastically changes the truth, or the person who blames their mistakes on others. While…

There are so many reasons to show our children that we care for them, and these are things that are not done often enough. Whether you are parenting together, a single parent, or a divorced couple, ev…

There are many positive reasons to find a mentor at work. Maybe you are floundering in your job. Perhaps you just cannot seem to get past a certain hurdle. You may be the type of person who works best…

Daisaku Ikeda once said,” If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.” I have always loved this thought because it talks of the infinite possibilities and many…

This is an issue that is of particular interest to me, as it is an issue that I struggled with for years myself. The ability to say “no” comes easier to some, but feels virtually impossible to others.…

Do you ever think that people spend so much time trying to find their life’s purpose, that they let life pass them by? I think you see this all too often. People are so focused on what is next, that t…

4 months ago was a milestone for me, I turned 40. 2 years ago was another type of milestone, I was diagnosed with a rare and chronic illness. 4 years ago was yet another milestone, I got married on a …

As I write this, it is difficult to get the theme song to the television show out of my mind, but it is good writing background motivation. Although, I will admit that the idea of taking the good and …

What is it about goal setting that causes us anxiety? Why is it that when we are planning for things we want, achievements we have in mind, and goals we hope to accomplish, our anxiety levels rise? Th…

There are many uncomfortable truths about life and live that we could talk about, but we will limit it to 7 here, as that is probably all any person could be expected to handle in one sitting. Life is…

This is a topic that is of particular interest to me, including the knowledge and skills that go along with learning it well. As a Psychologist, being able to read people’s facial expressions and non-…

Self-confidence is a fickle thing. While it seems like some have it in tremendous amounts, and others barely have any at all, the truth is typically somewhere in the middle. Those who exude self-confi…

Too often people believe that to achieve success, they must give up their personal life. They do not believe that work-life balance is possible in a meaningful way. These people miss out on the meanin…

How Can I Change My Mindset? Many of us stunt our growth and stop ourselves from getting what we want by having a fixed mind-set. We have that voice in our heads that we listen to that tells us that w…